How does God make us holy?
Sep 12, 2011
The Race for Grace - part fourteen in a study of the book of Galatians
By Mike Gaudet
How does God make us holy?
“Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians 4:6-7
The Holy Spirit is directly and solely responsible for any increase in holiness we experience on earth. Because of His influence we are “sanctified” . . . made holy.
How does the Spirit make us holy? The answer is deceptively simple. The Spirit “calls out” to God from within us. He teaches us to relate to God as “Abba, Father.”
Many people associate the Spirit’s voice with “Do this!” or “Stop that!” They believe that the Spirit’s primary purpose is to help us be “law-abiding.” The human spirit is law-based. The divine Spirit isn’t. “Those who are led by the Spirit are not under law.” Galatians 5:18
The Spirit doesn’t focus on how we behave . . . He focuses on what we believe. The Spirit of God “testifies with our spirit” . . . the place where we conceive of God. Our untutored spirit naturally relates to God as slaves of God. God’s Spirit teaches us to relate to God as children of God. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:16
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” 1 Corinthians 2:10-12
The thoughts and attitudes that live in the depths of God’s being are not apparent. God sends His Spirit into us in order to reveal these “deep things” to us. It might appear that God has a judge’s heart, but appearances can be deceiving. The Spirit reveals something far different: God has a Father’s heart. The Spirit encourages to call out to God saying, “Abba”…”Daddy.”
The Spirit reveals what has eternally existed within God’s heart. Not a change of heart but an unveiling of what has always been there . . . a Father’s heart.
The growing ability to relate to God as Father is at the heart of holiness.
Jesus Christ epitomized what holiness looks like. God’s strategy to reproduce holiness in us is to innervate us with the same Spirit that innervated Jesus. The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of his Son.” The Holy Spirit encourages us to relate to God the same way Jesus did . . . as Father. By sending “Jesus’ Spirit” into us, God influences us think and act like Jesus did.
Picture two children. One child raised by inattentive, selfish parents to be an insecure, selfish child. The second child raised by attentive, loving parents to be a secure, loving child. Imagine that the thoughts and attitudes of the secure child could be “downloaded” into the mind of the insecure child. The resulting change in thoughts and attitudes would dramatically impact this child’s actions.
God changes our actions by sending “the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.” Jesus’ thoughts and attitudes stream into our consciousness via the indwelling Spirit of God. By conforming our thoughts and attitudes to those of Christ, God transforms our lives. He makes us holy.
Even though Jesus’ Spirit lives in us, we can’t and won’t match His love for and devotion to His Father. He was perfect. We’re not! Yet, while our obedience doesn’t match Jesus obedience to the Father, the Father’s love for us does match His love for His Son. Jesus revealed this shocking truth while talking to His Father the night before He died. He said, “you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23
How does God make us holy?
The Spirit that lived in Jesus comes to live in us.